Juvenile safe after home fire

On Dec. 18, 2012, at 5:03 p.m., the Kern County Fire Department responded to a structure fire in the 900 block of West Dolphin in Ridgecrest. A juvenile ran into the local fire station and alerted the crew that his house was on fire.

Upon arrival, fire crews experienced heavy, dark smoke exiting the front door of a single-family residence. Crews deployed several hose lines and made an aggressive exterior attack to knockdown the fire and went inside the structure to extinguish the fire.

According to the Kern County Fire Department incident fact sheet, the cause of fire is under investigation. Smoke detectors were in the home but were found not to contain batteries. Reported structure value saved was $60,000 and value destroyed by fire was $110,000. One cat was saved and three other cats perished in the fire.